


The Soldier and the Spy

by NeKage



Series: The Soldier and the Spy [1]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Angst, Humanverse, M/M, World War III
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-05
Updated: 2020-04-06
Packaged: 2021-03-01 05:48:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23500015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NeKage/pseuds/NeKage
Summary: The worst has finally happened. World War III, and again, countries are fighting against each other in order to restore order. A young soldier by the name of Ludwig is fighting for his homeland, Germany; which as sided with the USSR for no other reason besides fear. As tensions rise and the war becomes increasingly violent, the soldier finds himself questioning all in which he was taught. His heart is torn until one day a captured italian spy changes his life.
Relationships: America/England (Hetalia), Austria/Prussia (Hetalia), Germany/North Italy (Hetalia)
Series: The Soldier and the Spy [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1690936
Comments: 2
Kudos: 9





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a fanfiction I originally wrote back in 2015 during highschool. I am aware of some grammatical mistakes, but want to gauge interest of this fic before remaking. Feel free to leave comments!

It was an unnaturally beautiful day. There wasn’t a cloud in sight, nor was there even a bit of a breeze. In fact, it was too warm. A lone man sat at the edge on a log, surrounded by various tents on the outskirts. The camp seemed empty,but as the sun began to rise, more and more men emerged from their slumber.  
"Private Beilschmidt!"  
At the sound of his name, the soldier set down the gun he was cleaning and pushed himself off the ground, recognizing the voice all too well. He begrudgingly made eyes with the voice’s owner. "Sir?" he addressed, keeping his stance perfectly firm as the officer approached him. At first, the man tried to keep his face straight,but began to giggle as he was face to face to him."No need to be so formal, Luddie!" he exclaimed, slapping him on the back playfully. His laughter reverberated around the camp, The man flinched, hating that nickname with a passion. His name was Ludwig. Not Luddie. It sounded like a dog name.  
"This is a military camp. You rank above me. It is protocol." he shrugged off the others hand, but he did loosen his stance a bit. "What do you want?”   
"Oh come on! Stop talking like a robot! Can’t I just visit once in awhile?”  
Ludwig sighed, slightly annoyed by the sheer volume of his brothers voice. Yes, he was related... Gilbert was his older brother, although he acted like a ten year old most of the time . His looks also gave people the illusion that he was the little brother since he was about three inches shorter, and always had a goofy grin on his face unless he was actually focusing on his job. He was what people referred to as an albino, with snow white hair and extremely pale skin. The skin was a problem considering he was out in the sun most of the time. If he was outside for more than twenty minutes, he’d be as red his irises, though he never complained about it once.  
"Unfortunately, I didn't come here just to strengthen our brotherly bond. We have an assignment for you." His voice went from the usual obnoxiously excited tone to a hardened, serious one. One perfect for a man of his rank. "We've captured who we believe to be a spy for the Allies. The general wants you to interrogate him."  
The Allies. The name echoed through his head as he pieced together what his brother just said. "Where is he from?" he asked, now stiff with ill content. He hated being in charge of interrogations, but it was an order he was used to. He was considered the best when it came to getting information, and most of the time he didn’t have to use force. Usually he was only talking to the average Ally soldier, but this time, it was an operative.The Allies were made up up six countries, but unlike the second World War, the Allies were made up of the Nations of: France, America, England, Japan, Spain, and Italy. He wasn't around for WW2, but he knew the history; and it didn't end well for Germany. The same questions echoed in his head ever since he was drafted; Was this war really necessary, and why was his country involved, knowing it could be yet another chaotic end for their country? It started out as a war between the USSR and America, so why were the Germans fighting? They still needed to recover for the first two wars!  
In the end, their countries joined forces with the Russians, The group was like the Axis from the second world war, except this time the Soviet Union was the country reeking havoc. They didn’t really have a name for their side; though they were frequently called ‘The second Axis' They were a powerful ally , although it wasn't yet determined if it was stronger the the United States. Either way, the Allies had a stronger spy network than ever thought possible. They were increasingly hard to find. Which was why the information held by the informant was so valuable.  
"He's from Italy. That's all we know.' Gilbert told him, “You’re the only one who somewhat understands the language, so you’ve been put in charge.”

Ludwig bit his lip, but nodded. He understood Italian fairly well, though he hardly remembered when he learnt it. His brother told him he learnt it from a childhood friend, but he couldn’t remember them.  
Without saying a word, Gilbert left the tent, obviously expecting him to follow.  
Breathing in, Ludwig followed, hoping he wouldn't have to use force to get the information he needed. He hated unnecessary violence with a passion, though many would say this was a necessity. 

* * *

The door to the darkened cell opened, enabling a beam of light to crawl into the room. This didn't bother most of the prisoners inside, since it was often when they came for someone. Everyone only turned away, all except for one. The newcomer , flinching as he realized with certainty that they came for him.  
"Come. Lets see what you're hiding in that little head of yours." the Russian soldier grabbed the spies arm, yanking him to his feet. "Are you scared?"  
He said nothing, though he did understand most of their Russian. It was a stupid question. He was scared ever since he was captured by the Germans. Everyone knew that once you got captured, the only way to escape was either by dying or selling out your own country. And he really didn't want to be marked a traitor.  
"Captain. Assistance please…" another Russian joined them, a silver haired one with startling violet eyes. His grasp on his other arm wasn't rough, it was actually gentle. He could tell by his features that he was an experienced soldier from the scars covering his face, so it was quite a surprise that he was the kinder one. They pulled him through the camp, leading him towards a tent. Finally they reached it, and with a final push he walked inside with his head hanging down. His hands were cuffed, but that was only a small obstacle. He probably could bring down the captors...   
“Lei parla inglese?"  
At the sound of his own language, the spies head shot up, meeting eyes with the rather large German. At first he was so shocked about his size, he neglected to answer. He heard the German clear his throat and quickly nodded. "Yes. I am fluent in both Italian and English."  
"Great. I can’t speak italian as well as I can understand it, and I don't feel like dealing with two languages at once." He stood up and pulled up a chair. "Please, Sit."  
His eyes widened, noticing the astonishing way the other towered over him.  
"Please. I'm not one to enjoy forcing one to do something, but I will if it is required."  
"Very well…" the italian did as he said, sitting in the metal chair. He knew a threat when he heard one.  
"gut. We're on the right track. would you mind telling me your name?”  
he was surprised by his captors tone. It wasn’t harsh at all. It was actually rather friendly.  
"And why would you need to know that?" he managed, his own voice coming out as a sort of small growl.  
"I can't just call you 'Mr. Spy' now, can I?" came his answer, his sky blue eyes sparkling slightly with amusement.  
"It's Feliciano. But good luck trying to figure out my last name. That has nothing to do with this." the spy finally answered, not caring how discourteous he sounded,  
"Well… Since my Italian pronunciation is frankly not the best, why don't I just call you Feli?"  
Feli. That was a nickname he never thought he’d hear again. It sure brought back some memories...  
"And what might be your name sir? I can't call you 'Mr. Killer'." at once Feliciano winced at his own stupidity. He wasn’t good with sassy remarks,  
"It's Ludwig. And my last name doesn't matter either."  
"Ludwig…” he pronounced it for himself, not liking the ‘v’ syllable at all, “Since I'm stuck with a lame ass nickname, why not call you Luddie?"  
This took the german aback, his face reddening slightly. "I’d rather you not…" He cleared his throat, maintaining eye contact awkwardly,  
Feli grinned deviously. It made him uncomfortable. Good.  
"Anyway, Mr. Feli. I'm not here to discuss nicknames with you. I assume you understand what I want from you?”  
"Yes. You want information.”  
An awkward silence hung in the air for a few minutes before the soldier spoke again,  
"So are you willing to share with us?” he asked, waiting patiently for an answer.  
The brunette was quiet. He didn’t really have much of a choice, did he? Death wasn’t on his agenda anytime soon. He did have some ideas though. He didn’t want to completely betray the Allies.  
"With a few requests." Feliciano replied. "We can start talking tomorrow."  
The spy watched with mild satisfaction as confusion swept across the mans face. He could tell what he was thinking; ‘That was easy.’  
Ludwig cleared his throat,"You realize you're in no condition to negotia-"   
"Oh I believe I do. Now listen." he interrupted , crossing his arms and tapping his fingers impatiently against his forearm. "You are to be the one to question me. I wont tell anything to anyone else."  
There was a nod of agreement, "is that it?"  
"And I want a change of clothes. That includes my jacket. You can check it if you’d like, but your men already took away my fancy spy equipment.” a sly grin appeared on his face, “I just like that jacket a lot.”  
"I think I can manage that request." Ludwig replied, though he was uncertain if his superiors would let that happen. He stood up, and the spy followed suit, "I'll get your clothes. And I’ll make time tomorrow to see you."  
he called something out in Russian, and the two Russians from before entered the tent,  
"Well then. I will see you soon, Luddie dear..." Feliciano cooed, not flinching at he felt the guards grab his arms.


	2. Expense

“FRATELLO!!!” Feliciano screamed, pulling away desperately to escape the strong arms of his captor to reach his mangled brother. ‘LET GO OF ME!!!! LET ME HELP HIM!!!”  
“I’m afraid it’s hopeless for him.” the man’s grip tightened in order to further restrain the distraught italian.   
“Help him! Please!” his forming tears mixed with the blood blocking his vision. He was wounded too, but with only a gash across his forehead. He was crying. That’s all he could do. That’s all he ever did. Pathetic.   
“Why would we help an enemy?”   
“Because he’s human! Just like you!”   
“If it were a german, would you help them?”  
This struck Feliciano hard. He slumped against the other, his body rocking from the intensity of his sobs. He couldn’t say yes, in fact, he sat by while someone killed a defenseless enemy soldier. That’s exactly what these men did. They killed Lovino in cold blood. He wasn’t even carrying any sort of weapon.  
wait.  
He was already accepting his brothers death.  
“He can’t die…” but he knew that wasn’t true. He was only making things worse for himself by fighting back.  
“Lovino… I’m sorry.. I’m so sorry…”  
And with that, Feliciano was dragged away, emotionally broken, and almost certain that he would join his brother soon.  
\- - -

“... And that’s how I ended up here. The Germans caught us by surprise while we were eating.” Feliciano breathed in as he finished, his whole body tensed up as he waited for the others' reaction. He messed with his trench coat sleeves as a nervous habit.  
Ludwig wasn’t usually the one to comfort. Especially to an enemy. But something about Feli’s story touched him more emotionally than anything in a while. He couldn’t help but put a comforting hand on the spies shoulder. “... I’m so sorry you had to go through something like that…” That’s it? Nice one Ludwig.  
“... It’s okay. Lovino would have wanted me to continue on without him.” he sighed and leaned on two of the four legs of his chair.It had been a month since he met with Ludwig. The other times were just the mandatory ‘give us the information we need’ sessions. There was no time for explaining his backstory then. But when he came in this morning, the german officer actually asked about his past. Usually Feliciano would tell no one about his life, but something about this soldier was different. He knew him for a month and yet the other hadn’t been the least bit cruel to him...  
“Well that’s the most recent part of my story… Why not tell me yours?”  
this caught Ludwig by surprise. “Why would that matter?”  
“Well I told you something pretty personal, didn’t I? It’s only fair if you tell me something about yourself. Do you have any relatives?”  
“Well… I have one. An older brother.” he silently swore at himself when he saw Feliciano’s small smile falter slightly. “Oh. Um… Maybe I shouldn’t-”  
“No! It’s fine! Go on!”   
“... Anyway, he was like a father to me. My parents were too busy with work, so all I had was him and Aster.”  
“Aster?”  
“My dog.” he smiled fondly at the memory of him. “He’s at home right now…” He caught a glimpse of Feliciano’s expression and sighed. “Oh. He’s not a childhood dog. I had him since I was about thirteen.”  
“My parents worked for the government, and as far as I know they still do. They’d be out for so long, Sometimes we wouldn’t see them for days.”  
“That must have been tough.”  
“Actually we were fine with it. My father wasn’t the best person in the world.” He unintentionally looked to his hand. It still held a long, jagged scar that went all the way across his palm.   
He heard the spy gasp as he laid eyes upon his hand.  
“Did he do that?”  
“... Not directly. But yes, at least that’s what brother says.”  
“Wait… Why wouldn’t yo-”  
the door was suddenly slammed open, revealing Gilbert looking unnaturally stressed.   
“Bruder?” Ludwig stood up, as did Feliciano. “What’s wr-”  
“He gave us fake information.” he cut in, his red eyes narrowing at the spy. “Those coordinates he gave us led to a trap. about one hundred of our men were shot at. I don’t know how he did it, but he somehow planned this whole thing.”  
The two german brothers eyed the italian, expecting a smooth lie of some sort.  
“Well I can’t always give you essential information.” Feliciano shrugged and crossed his arms. “I’ve given you real information before. I think I deserved a trick up my sleeve.”  
“... You know what you have to do Ludwig.” Gilbert sighed, patting the others shoulder. “Try to get some more information out of him. But no more Mr. Nice guy, okay?”  
“But brother… You know I can’t-”  
“That’s an order.” the albino interrupted, turning toward the door. “I expect something good by the end of the day. I don’t want some petty information like the shit he’s given us.”  
and with that he left, slamming the door behind him.  
Ludwig shook his head and looked at Feli with sympathy. “I suppose you know what he’s referring to…”  
Silently the Italian nodded. “I am in a way responsible for those deaths. I realized you’d figure it out sooner or later.”  
He didn’t want to do this, but this is what they did to uncooperative prisoners. “I hope for your own good you give me information quickly. I’ve realized how you haven’t been giving us the best of clues. You know more. A lot more.”  
“And I hope for your own good you get out of this hell hole soon.”  
Confusion overtook the german as he gazed down at Feliciano. He didn’t want to hurt him at all. Usually he didn’t enjoy interrogating by force, but this time it was like he actually cared about this man. Did some sort of friendship form without him knowing? He wasn’t the ‘friend’ type. Maybe that’s why he was so clueless.   
He had to do this. It was his job. But he felt himself hesitate.   
“You don’t have to do this. You could let me go. You could escape with me.”   
That sounded tempting. A little too tempting. Sure, he wasn’t one for communism, but he couldn’t betray his own country.  
“Listen Ludwig… Something bad is about to happen in this camp. Please come with me. I don’t want you to die…”  
Wait…  
Die?  
“What are you talking about? This camp is well fortified. We’re the biggest camp belonging to Germany at the moment.”  
“I can’t say… Please. I know it’s only been a month, but I feel as if I can trust you… Besides-”  
he was cut off by the sirens.  
“Attention. Attention. This is not a drill. All personnel go to designated stations. I repeat. This is not a drill. All personnel evacuate immediatel-” it was cut off from a sound that could only be gunfire.  
“Oh my god.” Ludwig felt his hand unconsciously wrap around Feliciano’s hand as he started to run. “What the hell did you do?!”  
“I-” he began, before the two were shaken off their feet from the impact of a grenade.  
“Americans!!” someone yelled, and another blast was heard.  
“Wait… My brother. We have to get him!” Ludwig started running fast, until he was sure he was practically dragging Feliciano behind him. He stopped in the corridor where his brother's office was. Gilbert was slumped against the desk, clutching his right eye. His hand was covered in blood. There was a dead ally soldier next to him, so he couldn't tell if it was his or the dead man’s blood.  
‘Brother!”  
Gilbert's head slowly lifted up, and he turned to face his brother. “Ludwig…”  
He ran toward his younger brother, not removing his hand as he did. “We have to evacuate quickly. It was a surprise attack from the Americans…”  
“Yeah, I know…” his gaze went to Feliciano’s, and Gilbert followed it.  
“Why is he with you?” he asked somewhat angrily. “Did he know about this?!”  
Ludwig was about to answer when the camp shook again.  
“They’re dropping bombs on us!” Feliciano yelled. “We have to get out of here now!”  
“He’s right! Come on brother!” he grabbed the man’s free hand and dragged the two to the exit. He tried desperately to ignore the dead bodies spread about, but it was becoming increasingly difficult as the amount of bodies seemed to increase the closer they got to the door.  
“Ludwig.” Feliciano said, bringing his attention back to reality.  
“R-right.” He kicked the door open and led them to the outside, finding it was in worse shape. There was a massive fire spreading from the main tent to the rest of the structure. There were more bodies spread out than inside, more Germans and Russians than that of the allies.  
“This way!” he yelled, directing Gilbert and Feli into the only safe place he knew of. The woods.  
Just as they left the camp, there was an even bigger bang, and Ludwig didn’t have to turn to know that they were probably the last three to escape.


	3. Doctor

“What the hell was that?” Ludwig demanded, stopping abruptly on the forest path. He didn’t seem out of breath at all, even though they just ran on an uphill slope for about a mile. It was a whole other story for the albino male, who was doubled over, with a hand still over his eye to the left, and the other over his stomach. Feliciano seemed fine as well, and Ludwig supposed it was because he was a spy, and spies had to have reasonably a strong body. So did a soldier.  
“You shouldn’t be worrying about that right now,” he gestured to Gilbert, “He’s the problem you should be taking care of at the moment.”   
Ludwig turned and saw his brother, now kneeling on the ground and sobbing as he pressed his hand even harder against his eye, “It hurts… Mein gott, It fucking hurts!”  
“We have to reach the nearest town quickly and get him treated. He could get an infection if we don’t act fast.”   
“Infection?” the German kneeled down next to this brother, and knew right away what was happening. How didn’t he see it before?  
“I thought it was obvious. Let’s go.” Feliciano started down the path once again, though now he was walking. He wanted to get out of these woods and show the two germans that he was trustworthy. He made some sort of small friendship with Ludwig over the amount of time he was interrogating him. Speaking of that…  
“To answer your first question, Ludwig, that was an attack from the allies. And yes, they found the camp because of me. You officers made quite a few critical mistakes when you imprisoned me. One, my coat had a couple secrets.” he shrugged, “Anyway, as I said before, this isn’t the time to be worrying about such things. I know a doctor who will treat him without any questions.”  
“Questions? You make us sound like criminals!”  
“Where we’re going, your side is the enemy. You are criminals. Now come on. Stop stalling.” he turned back towards the path, his brown jacket swishing in the wind behind him as he walked.  
Ludwig had a couple things to talk to this man about, but at the moment, his brother needed attention, “Okay Gilbert. We’re going to get you help, okay?”   
Gilbert was still on the ground on his knees, but he stopped crying. He glanced up at his brother and nodded, his red eyes wide and scared. It was strange to see such a look from a guy like him, and that worried Ludwig even further. He reached down and picked him up, just like a groom held his bride. That of course was not the intention, but it was easier to hold him like this. Well, at least for Ludwig anyway. He followed after Feliciano, who was a fair distance away by now, and ran to catch up. It was starting to rain, and the already muddy path was getting worse. His boots were covered in it, and his uniform was stained from mud and blood. It reminded him of the many training exercises he endured. There were some times that he’d cut himself on the barbed wire, so the blood was part of it as well. They continued running for a couple minutes before there was a sudden change in scenery. The path was still there, but instead of trees surrounding them, there were buildings. Feliciano stopped, “We’re here.”  
Ludwig knew very well where they were, and understood why he and Gilbert would be considered enemies. They were in a village that opposed the fact that their people, the Germans, sided with the Russians. In the end, the German military let them be, not wanting to cause a conflict in their own country. Because of that, the village basically became off limits to any sort of military. Ludwig was unsure of its original name, but it was changed to ‘Freiheit’, literally meaning ‘freedom’ in German.  
“Come on.” Feliciano urged, continuing down the path. He followed, but he couldn’t help but notice that they were receiving some pretty unfriendly looks by passersby. He was used to cold looks, so it didn't bother him too much, but he didn’t like the fact that they were his own people. He felt like a traitor here. He followed Feliciano into the yard of a small but seemingly well kept home, and wondered what kind of doctor lived in such a place. It was so small, and doctors usually made a lot of money. The Italian knocked on the door in some sort of odd rhythm, and in a few seconds,the door opened to reveal a short man, with black hair and oddly goldish eyes.   
“Hello Feli. It has been a long time.” the man bowed, and Ludwig could tell he was of asian origin, judging by his looks and accent. Not that he minded of course, it was just a bit curious as to why he would be in this country of all places.  
Feliciano grinned and bowed as well, before breaking formality as he pulled him into an embrace, “ I’m so glad to see you! How’s business?”  
The other looked a bit surprised at the sudden embrace, and stiffened up at first, before relaxing and hugging him back. Ludwig was a bit uncomfortable just standing there with his brother in his arms, and cleared his throat, trying to grab the men's attention.   
Feliciano pulled out of the hug, and stepped to the side as the german came closer, “I didn’t come here for a quick visit, unfortunately. This is Ludwig and his brother… Uh…”  
“Gilbert.”   
“Ah yes, Gilbert. His brother got stabbed or shot in his left eye. I’m unsure of which... He’s bleeding pretty badly…” he didn't even finish before the doctor was gesturing for them to come in, “I will see what I can do. lay him on the bed.”  
When he entered, Ludwig saw that what was supposed to be the living room was set up like a hospital room, except it didn't have those unfriendly white walls and expensive monitors. There was a bed set up in the center, with a dark red blanket and matching pillowcase. ‘Probably to hide stains...’ Ludwig thought to himself.  
The doctor pulled off the quilt, and he set Gilbert on the bed, who by this time was close to unconsciousness. The front of his uniform was stained with red, along with half of his face and hand.  
“First I have to clean it. Can you please move your hand, Gilbert?” the japanese man stood behind Ludwig with a bowl and a rag, and kneeled by his brother, “I don’t have any pain killers, so It will hurt, but if I do not clean it, you could die from infection.”  
at first, it seemed that the albino was unconscious, but after what seemed to take some effort, Gilbert did as he said, and dropped his arm to his side.   
“Okay. Hold onto your brothers hand.” he said this to Ludwig, who nodded and did as he said, gripping his brother's bloody hand.  
He watched as the doctor moved onto the task of cleaning the blood from the side of his face, dipping the rag into the water every minute or so. It was visible that this was causing Gilbert pain, even if it wasn't even cleaning out the real problem yet, “Feliciano, I’m going to need you to hold him down. Ludwig, keep holding onto his hand as tight as you can.”  
Feliciano was standing in the farthest corners of the room, and didn’t make a sound as he approached them, crawling on top of Gilbert and holding down Gilberts shoulders, “Sorry for such a position, Gilbert.’ he smiled apologetically, but his eyes were cold. He didnt really care, thats what Gilbert saw from such a look.   
“Go ahead, doc.” the italian told him.   
Ludwig watched as he dipped the towel into the water, and brought it up to his face once again. He began to gently press on the wound, and that was when the screams began.


	4. Operation

“Hold him down!”  
“I’m trying! He’s stronger than he looks!”  
At present, Feliciano was trying desperately to hold down a man who was thrashing wildly while the doctor tried to clean out his mutilated eye. It was not working out at all, and Gilbert’s piercing screams made it even harder to concentrate,  
“Here, Let me do it.” Ludwig volunteered, letting go of his brother's hand as he stood up. The screaming died down when everyone stopped what they were doing so they could switch their positions. Feliciano got off of the man and stepped to the side, finding that he had nothing to contribute. Ludwig took on the same position, leaning over his brother and pushing his body against the bed with all his strength. Even when Gilbert was in such a bad state, he could still be extremely strong,   
“I know it hurts, just try and settle down…” Ludwig squeezed his shoulders gently, trying to comfort him as much as possible,  
“I almost have it all cleaned out. I’m going to have to stitch your skin back together…” the doctor trailed off, giving the Albino an apologetic look, and got up to go grab his equipment, “I’m going to need the both of you to help me restrain him. He’ll probably pass out from the pain, so it won't be for long.”  
Gilbert was breathing heavily, and he was sweating profusely, “I’m going to remove your top, okay?” he told him, unbuttoning his coat and sliding his arms out of his sleeves. He felt a bit awkward doing this in such a position, but it was a necessary action he had to take. Feliciano took the coat from him and folded it up, setting it on the floor. Next he got rid of the black dress shirt underneath, noticing that it was pretty clean,  
“He’ll be okay, Kiku is taking care of it. He’s a pretty good doctor considering he isn’t licensed.”  
“Kiku?” that sounded familiar somehow…  
“Yeah. That’s his name, Kiku Honda.”  
“You’re talking about me at a time like this?” the said man walked back into the room, holding a sort of briefcase,  
“Well… I can’t just call you doctor now, can I?” Ludwig shrugged, and looked down at his brother, who was looking up at him with his only eye, “I’ll hold his torso and legs. Feliciano, you should hold his head still.”  
Kiku set the case on the bed and extracted from it a simple needle and thread, “This is the best I can do. I don’t have those fancy plastic stitches.”  
Feliciano put his hands on each side of his head, and nodded for him to start the process,  
“Hold on Gilbert…” Ludwig whispered, eyeing the needle's course toward his brother's face. Kiku pinched together cut skin from the wound, and pierced through it, careful not to poke the exposed muscle underneath. Since the skin was not dead, this caused a reaction, and Gilbert began pulling against his restraints, which in this case were two relatively strong men. He seemed too tired to actually scream anymore, and only hissed through his teeth and whined as tears began to cascade out of his eye. Kiku pulled the thread through, making sure to do it carefully so he could precisely stitch the right spots together. He pierced his skin again, and this time, Gilbert yelped, crying out before going limp,  
“Oh god! Is he okay?” Feliciano exclaimed, looking terrified.  
Kiku put two fingers against the patient's throat, nodding when he felt a pulse, “Yeah he’s okay. It’s a pretty painful procedure, though I’m surprised he didn’t lose consciousness when I was cleaning it out. You can let go now. He’s out cold. I’ll finish this up. Feli. You should bring Ludwig into town and grab him and Gilbert some new clothes. Wearing those uniforms could get them in trouble.”  
“Yeah.” the italian was digging in a drawer, pulling out quite a bit of money, “Do you know his size in clothes?” Feliciano asked, directing the question at Ludwig, who was climbing off his brother,  
“Yeah. I do. I suppose I shouldn't be wearing this then.” he took off his stained coat and discarded it into the pile of clothing that was forming, and was left with a black tank top and his mud stained pants, “Lets go.” he took one more look at his brother before opening the door and letting himself out. Feliciano followed after him, stuffing the money into his pockets,  
“Is that even your money?”  
The italian smiled, catching up so they were walking side by side, “Of course it is. I wouldn’t steal from my friends! Kiku just holds on to some of my cash in case of an emergency.”  
“And this is an emergency?” Ludwig didn’t like when people paid for him, especially people he didn’t know very well,  
“Well… Yes. It is an emergency. A fashion emergency!” he said this with a high pitched, girly tone, one which made Ludwig jump a bit. He couldn’t help but feel disgusted by just how cheery this man seemed, even after what just happened. It did make a bit of sense, considering he was a spy for the opposing side,  
“Why are you so damn happy after what just happened? ” he blurted out, stopping in his tracks.   
Feliciano stopped as well, and his smile was gone, replaced with that same cold glare he gave Gilbert before. He frowned and crossed his arms,  
“I don’t dwell on things like that.” came his answer.  
“You don’t dwell on things like that?! What the hell is that supposed to mean? You don’t regret being the reason that people died??”  
“It was necessary. I wasn’t planning on being captured, but it did help us locate your camp, and obliterate it. You should see why we’re doing this.” Feli ran a hand through his matted locks of hair, reminding himself to trim it down later.  
“The Russians are taking this whole thing too far. Communism itself isn’t the big problem. It was the start of it, but now, ever since Russia dropped a nuclear bomb on the U.S, they have been killing to protect a political theory, and your country joined them! Remember what I said? When you were interrogating me? I know for a fact you agree with me.”  
Ludwig was silent, unable to say anything to counter that statement. Feliciano was right. He did not agree with the way the Russians were handling this. They destroyed most of Washington D.C using their new nuclear weapons, and that was what sparked the war in the first place,  
“Now, since we got that out of our system, let’s go get you something to wear besides that uniform.” Feliciano grabbed his hand and pulled him through the town, “And let’s try to be friends, okay? You’ll see I’m not a bad person!” he smiled and dragged Ludwig into what looked to be a big department store, which seemed unnecessarily large for such a small town

\---

“How about this?” Feliciano held up a bright pink shirt that had the most… Interesting frills at the ends of the sleeves.  
Ludwig was currently grabbing a couple of matching black tank tops, and turned to face the ugliest shirt he had ever set his eyes upon, “Uh… I don’t think Gilbert would enjoy such a… Colorful shirt.”  
“Oh no! I know that! I picked it out for you!” He exclaimed, “Try it on!” he proceeded to push the shirt into his arms,  
“What!? Ah! Stop it! I would never put on such a thing!” he handed it back to Feliciano, who pouted childishly, “I thought it was a cool shirt!”  
“Sorry, I don’t wear pink.” he grabbed three pairs of camouflage pants from the rack, and nodded to himself when he saw they were in his size,  
“You seem to enjoy the military look.” the Italian observed, watching him pick out his clothing,   
““You can't just wear tank tops. What if it gets cold? What we have to do is get you a nice jacket!” before Ludwig could object, he ran off, pink shirt in tow. The german sighed, and started to look around for his brother,  
“What would Gilbert wear?” he asked himself, going through some of the regular shirts. Gilbert liked the dress shirts they wore under their jackets, so he grabbed about five, three black and and two white, along with some normal t-shirts and jeans. He set them in the shopping cart, and flinched when he felt a hand on his shoulder,  
“Hey! I found something!”  
“If it’s another bright colored shirt, I won’t even try it on.” he told him, glimpsing at his discovery. It wasn't a bad find at all. It was a long, leather, black trench coat, with a simple three button design. He took the coat and pulled it off the hanger, throwing it on. It reached just past his butt, and it was surprisingly light and warm. He took a look in the mirror and saw that it didn't look that bad on him, not that he was concerned by how it looked, but it was a plus,  
“What do you think, Feliciano?” he asked, noticing the other staring at him,  
“Ah! It’s a good look on you!” he beamed, “See? I’m not completely hopeless! Now! Let’s buy this stuff!”   
Ludwig smiled for the first time today, and slipped the jacket back on the hanger. He still didn't trust the Italian spy, but he had to admit his cheeriness was taking an effect on him, regardless of his present situation.


	5. Comrade

Ludwig and Feliciano continued shopping a little longer before finally paying and heading back to Kikus house. They walked through the door, and the German set the various bags on the floor,  
“How is he?” Ludwig asked, approaching his brother's side. The wound was now bandaged up, and Gilbert seemed to be breathing easier. Kiku was cleaning up his equipment, and smiled when Ludwig asked his question,  
“He’s going to be fine. He’ll recover relatively quickly.” He answered, setting the box holding his supplies on the chair sitting next to the bed, “I can’t replace his eye, considering I stitched together the skin, but He’ll live.”  
“I don’t think he’d want a new eye anyway. He’d say it’s an ‘awesome battle scar’.” Ludwig smiled and gently took his brothers now clean hand, “When do you suppose he’ll wake up?”  
“Oh, he’ll wake up at any time. He’s just unconscious because he was in so much pain. Hopefully soon, because he needs to eat something to regain his strength. Believe it or not, getting stabbed in the eye takes a lot of energy out of a person.”   
Feliciano yawned and rummaged in his pockets, pulling out what was left of his shopping spree money, “Here. for your services.” he handed Kiku all of it,  
“You don’t have to pay me… It’s fine. I owe you a lot of favors.” the japanese man tried to hand the cash back, but Feliciano stepped back,   
“Kiku, just take it. It’s not nearly enough for what you’ve done, but it’s all I have.”  
The doctor held the cash out a few seconds longer before sighing and grabbing his wallet from his pocket, stuffing it inside,  
So… Now what are your plans now?” he asked, purposely changing the subject.  
Feliciano shrugged, leaning against the wall and crossing his arms, “Well, first I have to go back to my campsite. They took most of my stuff, but I know they missed what was important.” he gave Ludwig a small smile, “That’s where you come in.”  
“Excuse me?” the Germans eyes narrowed, “You want me to help you recover some sort of ally weapon?”  
“Weapon? Who said it was a weapon? Either way, you do owe me quite a bit, don’t you?” he chuckled, “Did you think I was just going to let you go without paying me back?”  
“W-well… No… But-” Ludwig groaned in frustration, “Fine! But only this once!”  
“Okay, glad we got that settled then!” he grinned and turned toward the door,  
“Hey! Feli.” Kiku called, “Before you go…”  
the italian turned, signalling for the other to say whatever was on his mind,  
“I’m sorry about your brother.”  
There was a very long and painful moment of silence as Feliciano’s expression turned into one of shock. He didn’t tell his friend what happened yet,  
“How did you know?” he asked finally, voice a hoarse whisper,  
“A couple of soldiers came into town a couple weeks ago, bragging about killing a hotshot ally spy. They said the victim was italian.” Kiku shook his head sadly “Of course, that was when I pieced it together, It was either you or your brother, since you were on a mission near here. The soldiers were kicked out of town right after that, thank god. No military allowed, remember?” He briefly glanced in Ludwigs direction, “I just wanted to offer my condolences. I know how hard it is to lose someone as well…”  
Feliciano didn’t reply, he only stared at his friend, processing the situation. Did that mean his brother was actually dead? He breathed in, nodding weakly at Kiku before turning around and exiting the home without another word. Ludwig watched with stunned silence until he realized that he was to follow him, “Um… Thank you. We will be back soon, hopefully Please take care of my brother.” he bowed, remembering japanese custom, before he grabbed his new jacket and followed the italian out the door.

“Feliciano… Where are we going?” the German asked when he caught up with him. He wasn’t expecting an answer right away due to what just happened, but surprisingly, he stopped sulking and explained,  
“It’s near your camp. My car and other useful items are still there.”  
“How do you know?”  
At this he smirked, “Because they weren't near the campsite. I hide the most important things when we’re camping, as a precaution. Most soldiers would look in the general vicinity of the campsite for anything like that. We walked a bit from the car.” He shut up after he said ‘we’, obviously meaning he and his brother.  
Ludwig sighed, again feeling the urge to comfort him, “Do you want to talk about it? I mean, you told me a bit back at the camp, but not really the whole story. Besides,” he saw that they were approaching the same path they took to get here in the first place, “It looks like we got a way to walk.”  
“ah… I guess… I suppose you want to know the details of the actual mission as well?”  
“That would help.”  
The Italian sighed, rubbing the back of his neck, “Well, in truth, our mission was actually a success, because we were supposed to locate a certain military camp in Germany. We didn’t even know the name, we just knew the general location.” he gestured to his surroundings, “It was somewhere around this area, so they sent me and Lovi to figure out where it was, and to report the location.”  
“So that’s why you weren't overly stressed when I talked to you.” Ludwig nodded to himself, but Feliciano shook his head,  
“No. I was extremely stressed. My plan wasn’t to get captured, and it definitely did not include my brother getting killed.”  
There was an awkward silence after that, and they continued through the woods like that until Feliciano continued,  
“We were eating when we were spotted. We camped for the night when the Russians showed up. Lovino tried to fight back, but they shot him as they reached for his gun. I didn’t have time to pull out my own weapon because more came up behind me. The last I saw of my brother was him on the ground, not moving.”   
There was more silence, , and Ludwig was unsure of how to react. He was about to comfort him, but he stopped himself, remembering that this was his enemy, and it was his camp he was searching for to inevitably destroy, which in the end, he was successful.  
He looked around at his surroundings, stopping in his tracks when he saw what they were looking for, “You really did camp far away…” he muttered, stepping towards the vehicle,  
“What are you talking about? We still have about a thirty minute walk until we-” Feliciano’s eyes widened, and he grabbed the germans arm, “That’s not my car!”  
There was a rustling in the bush ahead of them and the Italian pulled Ludwig back, just as the sound of a gunshot rang in the air,  
“Руки вверх!” a russian voice exclaimed as four Russian soldiers came out of various hiding places.  
Ludwig understood enough Russian to understand what they were ordering, and put both of his hands in the air, “Put your hands up.” he translated when he saw a confused gaze of Feliciano’s face. The italian did as he said, and the soldiers approached them, led by someone they both recognized,  
“Ludwig? One of the soldiers stepped forward, staring directly at the man in question,  
“Ivan? You’re alive?”  
Feliciano recognized the man as one of the guards who led him to Ludwig every day, the one that was a bit kinder compared to the rest of the guards who supervised him during that month in camp. He had the most curious silver hair, and he wondered if it was natural. He doubted it, but who was he to talk? He knew someone with white hair. He glanced over to Ludwig, who was currently staring back at the Russian with a blank expression,  
“Why are you with this spy?” He asked, this time in english,  
“It’s funny. All of the english speaking countries are in the Allies, yet that’s like a second language here.” Feliciano smirked, ignoring the shocked expression Ludwig was giving him.  
Ivan, to Ludwigs surprise, just sighed, adjusting his scarf, which was strange because it was pretty hot out. The german shook his head, a bit frustrated with the Italians attitude, and was about to say something when Feliciano spoke again,  
“And the reason he’s with me is because he’s part of the Allies now.”  
“What?!” both Ludwig and Ivan exclaimed, obviously not expecting that as an answer at all,  
“Si. He joined me after your camp burned down to the ground.” He smirked, keeping his gaze away from the man next to him, who looked as though he wanted to tear his head off,  
“What the hell are you going on about? I didn’t say I was part of the Allies, ever! I was just helping him with… Ah...”  
Ivan was staring at him, eyes wide, “Ludwig, you are helping him?”   
“Ah, shit.” this didn’t look like it was going to end well.  
There was a brief exchange in russian between Ivan and another soldier, and Ludwig could only make out part of it. It was something along the lines of, “Sir, should we kill them?” and Ivan responding, “I got it. Leave.”  
The soldier seemed to try and protest, but the overwhelmingly frightening aura Ivan suddenly gave off made him shrink back. He said the order again, louder this time, before all of the Russians, excluding Ivan, left the site,  
“Ivan, I-” Ludwig was cut off by Ivan holding his hand up, signalling for him to shut up,  
“I knew this was bound to happen. I knew you didn’t agree with war. I am right, da? That is why you with him?” his english was getting a bit scattered, since he was switching languages right away.   
Ludwig sighed, putting his arms down to his sides. He wanted to deny it, but to do so would take a lot of convincing, “Ja, you’re right… I don’t agree with how the USSR is handling this war.”  
“I don’t agree either.” Ivan stated, shocking both him and Feliciano,  
“You don’t agree with your own country?” the Italian asked, his arms now crossed,  
“Da. They kill for communism. That is not right. Innocent people have died.” he gave both of them a chilling smile, which was all Ivan could give. He could be creepy at times, even when he didn’t mean it, “So, what do you say?”  
“Say?”   
“I would like to join resistance!”


End file.
